Head of Wizards' University, Corkoran is obsessed with being first on the moon. To get money for his project, he decides to teach first year. But famous Derk has daughter Elda - a big golden griffin, and other students are penniless. Elda and friends start working magic on their own; Elda gets brothers Kit and Blade to help Corkoran skyward; University life spins haywire. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

This is a fantastic follow up to “The Dark Lord of Derkholm”. In this book, it follows Elda and her schooling at the University about eight years after the first. I love how Jones was able to skillfully shift the narrator and tell Elda’s story on her own while maintaining many of the characters and elements of the original that I loved. It gives us a sneak peek of the fallout after the tours were banished, but in an oblique way. There are plentiful options for additional books in the series, but I guess for this one it will be left up to our imagination!

That being said, the book is nonstop action while following Elda’s initial school experiences, attempts to fit in and generally being a young adult (griffin). I also feel it’s worth mentioning that these books came out before the Harry Potter series. It’s hard to imagine young adult books before Harry Potter, but Jones was completely unique at her time and still has lasting power today!

Warning: Contains violence.

Rating: 5 stars!

Who should read it? Fantasy fans of all sorts – but start with the first one! This world will be confusing without reading that one first.